“So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.” -Phil 4:8-9 tPt
Focus.
Such a powerful word. Such a powerful truth to apprehend. Our focus literally has the ability to make or break our mental and spiritual health.
Last week I wrote about magnifying hope. It is such a simple concept: what we magnify becomes larger.
But it isn’t always quite so easy to put into practice-especially in regards to ourselves.
When we think about magnifying the good, when we think about focusing on what is authentic and real and honorable and admirable–we shouldn’t stop with circumstances. We shouldn’t stop with searching for the gold in others.
We also need to focus on what’s authentic and real in ourselves.
I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of areas in my life that (ahem) could use some improvement. But when I focus on what I do “wrong” rather than on what is “authentic and real” about me, well, I’m kind of a mess.
And the messy me doesn’t usually feel like I have a whole lot to give.
But thankfully the messy me isn’t the end of the story. The messy you isn’t the end of your story either. Because when you “fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God” guess who’s at the top of that list?
You.
That’s right, you are His glorious work. You are His workmanship. In fact, you are His masterpiece–created anew in Christ Jesus so you can do the good things He planned for you (paraphrased from Eph 2:10 NLT).
None of us have fully apprehended the stunning reality of who we are in Christ. At least not yet. We are all in process. But when we lift our gaze and focus on who He created us to be – rather than on who we’re not – we just might find we have some wonderful, amazing, and astoundingly “authentic and real” parts of His heart to share with the world around us.
So set your heart on what’s authentic and real, beloved…
Because the world needs the authentic and real you.
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I did a brief (and not so polished 🙂 ) podcast with this blog. Here is the link: “Authentic and Real.” It is also in the sidebar.
For those who prefer SoundCloud, here is that link:
Cindy Powell 